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Too often, people with viral illness leave the doctor’s office with prescriptions for antibiotics. That’s a real problem. Antibiotics don’t treat viruses, often cause side effects, and when taken too often, lead to drug resistance.
So when you have a bad cough and go to the doctor, you should hope to see someone who is careful not to prescribe unnecessary antibiotics. Oh yes, and you should see that doctor early in the morning, or first thing in the afternoon, or you risk the chance that fatigue will cause your physician to prescribe an antibiotic you don’t need to take.
That’s the conclusion drawn by Jeffery Linder and colleagues, after they analyzed data from 23 primary care clinics in the Boston area. Disturbingly, Linder and colleagues found that doctors prescribe unnecessary antibiotics with frightening frequency, almost regardless of the time of day.
(To read the rest of this article, please visit Forbes.)